John O. 'Dubby' Wynne will retire as president and CEO of Landmark
Communications Inc. at year's end, when The Weather Channel president and CEO
Decker Anstrom will become Landmark's president and chief operating officer.
Anstrom will continue as CEO of TWC, maintaining his role as programming
representative for the cable network.
The moves were announced Tuesday by Landmark chairman Frank Batten Jr.
A search will begin for a COO for TWC. Wynne, who has spent 27 years with
Landmark, will continue as a member of the company's board of directors after
his retirement, while Batten assumes the title of CEO of Landmark.
In his new post, Anstrom will work from Landmark's headquarters in Norfolk,
Va. Landmark president of publishing R. Bruce Bradley and president of
broadcasting Donald Patterson will report to Anstrom. Batten said Landmark
executive vice president and chief financial officer Lemuel E. Lewis will
continue to report to him, but he will work closely with Anstrom on operational
and human-resources matters.
Meanwhile, the new COO of TWC will take on some of Anstrom's current work in
Atlanta in order to give him more time to devote to Landmark-wide
responsibilities. Anstrom, though, will still spend a significant amount of his
time in Atlanta working on TWC activities.
'Dubby has decided to retire in order to devote more time to his family, to
civic and educational causes and to other pursuits,' Batten said in a prepared
statement.
'As the company's general counsel, as general manager of KNTV in San Jose
[Calif.], as the driving force behind The Weather Channel and as CEO of
Landmark, Dubby has given 120 percent of his energy to serving Landmark and to
making our company successful,' he added. 'Now he has chosen to redirect that
enormous energy to the people who are closest to him and to the charitable
causes he enjoys.'
Noting that Anstrom has done 'a tremendous job' since joining TWC two years
ago, Batten is confident that the former National Cable Television Association
president will be up to the challenges at Landmark.
'Decker has good business judgment, he is a fine strategic thinker and he is
a wonderful natural leader of people,' Batten continued. 'Decker's management
style and his personal character exemplify the best of Landmark's culture. He
sets high performance standards and is constantly focused on improvement. I am
confident that Decker will ably fill the big shoes Dubby is leaving
behind.'
